Snapshots of Lexington today: Photo exhibit on display at Pam Miller Arts Center

While much of this year in Lexington has been about looking at the city’s past 250 years, a new exhibit will look at the city now.

As part of 250Lex, the year-long celebration of the city’s anniversary, the city is displaying “Lexington at 250,” a photography exhibit of Lexington’s more recent history. Work from more than 30 photographers will be displayed through Feb. 7, and offers a glimpse of the town Lexington’s founders envisioned when they first settled along the banks of Town Branch Creek.

Tom Eblen, former managing editor and columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader and guest curator of the exhibit, said his love of history inspired the exhibit. About a year ago, he was approached by Lexington’s director of Arts and Cultural Affairs Celeste Lewis about curating a photography exhibit, Eblen said.

“Since I was a kid growing up here, I have been a student of Lexington history,” Eblen said. “I decided that a good way to close out the 250th anniversary of Lexington’s naming would be by putting together an exhibit of photographs showing modern and recent Lexington life.”

Eblen put out a call to local photographers he knew, as well as to local camera clubs and people whose work he had admitted on Instagram.

“This exhibit seeks photographs that show modern life in Lexington and Fayette County,” his request read. “Yes, we want to see some of the beauty of the landscape and cityscape. But we mainly want storytelling images that show the diversity of Lexington life — how people of every age, color, class and community live, work and play. What makes this city tick? What is unique about Lexington? How have history and aspiration created the community we see today? We want images that show the commonplace, the quirky, the ironic and the iconic aspects of Lexington, its people and their cultures.”

Eblen said he received more than 160 images from more than 60 photographers. The hard part was narrowing the exhibit to just 59 images.

“I was looking for exceptional photographs, but also a variety of images that spoke to many aspects of Lexington’s culture, diversity, landscape and history,” Eblen said. “I also hoped to get images that showed things I hadn’t seen before — or, like Brett Corman’s great image of traffic on Nicholasville Road, things I had seen many times but had never seen done well in a photograph.”

The result was a view of Lexington as it has always been — a city constantly changing.

“In this show I wanted to create a snapshot of ‘modern’ Lexington life, with a few references to the past for context,” he said. “Lexington today feels comfortable with its past and present, and it seems well-positioned for a bright future. So, I also wanted to show some of that optimism and love of place.”

Images show the heartbeat of the city, including a sculpture in the Kentucky Arboretum, neon signs inside a bar, horse racing and a panoramic view of Lexington at dusk.

“All year long, we’ve paid tribute to the very best of our city with a celebration for Lexington, about Lexington, by Lexington,” Mayor Linda Gorton said. “This exhibit gives us the opportunity to see our community through the eyes of some of our most gifted photographers.”

The exhibit is available for viewing at the city gallery at 141 E. Main St., inside the Pam Miller Arts Center. The Arts Center is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.

This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 5:00 AM.